The procedure of the pilot judgment of the European Court of Human Rights as a means of national legal systems transformation

The article examines the issues related to the influence of the procedure of pilot judgments of the ECtHR on the improvement of the legal systems of the Respondent States. A brief overview of some of the pilot actions taken in respect of the Respondent States is made; the effectiveness of the adopted measures of a general nature is assessed. The purpose of pilot judgments is the desire of the European Court and of all bodies of the Council of Europe involved in the procedure of pilot judgments at different stages to create a system of effective remedies at the national level, since a large part of duplicate cases confirms this necessity. The author emphasizes that the European Court should exercise special care and diligence in the indication of general measures in a pilot decision, as these measures conform with the constitutional principles of the Respondent State, historical and political-legal traditions and possibilities of the state budget. A conclusion is justified that the pilot judgment procedure should be applied only in exceptional cases, when there is an opportunity to find means to solve the problem at the national level. The methodological basis of the research consists of general scientific methods of cognition: dialectical, logical, systemic, functional, etc. Methods used in the science of international law were applied: system-legal, comparative legal, and method of interpretation of law. The latter was especially needed in addressing issues of a legal nature and specifics of the proposed pilot judgments of the European Court of Human Rights. The transformation of national legal systems, often associated with changes of value and mental approaches in a natural way, can not happen in a short period of time and require continuous and progressive work of national authorities on solving systemic problems. According to the author, the practice of making pilot judgments plays an important role in establishing the uniformity of the procedure and allows using the experience of states in overcoming systemic problems. Exchange of experience in addressing complex structural problems between the states and with the Council of Europe bodies greatly accelerates and improves the quality of pilot judgments execution. For a successful improvement of the legal systems, the member states of the Convention must have a set of legal, institutional and financial mechanisms that determine the productivity of the pilot judgment procedure. The effectiveness of the implementation of most pilot judgments can be considered satisfactory and in some cases, when overcoming the challenges of the post-Communist system, positive enable the Court to harmonize and unify the common legal space of the Council of Europe. However, to fully implement most of the measures taken by the Respondent States require constant monitoring of the state of legislation, the improvement of certain aspects of legal practice and, equally important, the timely and sufficient allocation of the necessary budget funds to award compensation.

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